Consumed on the evening of 9/7/06. A two year old brown ale? Stone's tasting notes from March were more than promising.

The pour is a blend of dark brown and amber, but its fiery red hue comes out when I hold it up to the light. Oooh, welcome to 4.5 country. The second pour brought way more head.

The nose has a lot more milk chocolate than I remember this having two years ago. That's always a great characteristic. There are caramel malts, figs, nuts and I'm getting currant every four sniffs.

This is one chocolaty brown ale. Sweet malts bring chocolate, camel, dark fruit, and nuts. This was fairly hoppy when it was fresh, but today, the hops stay in the background in a much more supportive role.

I don't have another bottle, but if I did, I would wait to see how this beer continues to develop. (817 characters)

Served up in a 5 year chronological Vertical line-up of the 6th, 7th and 9th past Anniversary Stone brews throughout the next few days, before I sample the latest 10th Anniversary Stone offering.

Appearance: Massive tan head, thick, auspicious looks, conspicuous lacing and the highly detailed collapsed, creamy and rocky contours, are just as intriguing as the Moons surface. Body is hazed with a dark treacle like stance; this renders all the qualities of the Bastard child of a drunken one night stand between a Newcastle Brown Ale and a Bloody Mary .. solid stuff, looks much better than the last bottle I had 6 months ago. Lasting Kopf runs rings down the glass, conditioning is super fine.

Nose: Past experience has been of a reticent nose, not so after 2 years!!! It positively leaps out of the glass; crushed figs, soft prunes, milk chocolate and a lovely silky hop character that wraps itself around the darker fruits. The aromas are stronger and the score picks up a few clicks here, just enough to pull a 4.0 with ease, but miss out on a 4.5 by the thickness of a mosquitos pubic hair.

Taste: Hmmmm, Willy Wonka would be proud. The chocolately nature is progressing nicely and has rounded out with some age. It melds with prunes, figs and a smidgen of Lyles Black Treacle to offer a smooth silky effort. Hints of molasses and soaked wood punctuate the lingering tail long after the Cadburys milk chocolate after-taste fades. Dark Jamaican Rum and Cappuccino even comes to mind after a half Bomber. Strikingly good and I am surprised how much this has picked up in just 6 months since I last tried it. The complexity is developing; the previously easy to recognize bitterness is now hard to separate from the chocolate tones, it bonds to form an aphrodisiac chocolate coated hoppyness which hypnotizes with a sexual nature.

Mouthfeel: One thing that the Stone Anniversary brews exhibit, is a strong long term conditioning. Not one of the previous Stones, even the 6th Smoked Porter, has suffered. The 8th is no different. Finely dissolved conditioning, silky, talcum powder soft with a slickness that would rival Du Ponts Teflon®. Oh so easy, all too effortless. The 8% is long gone, but I am sure it is still hiding, successfully camouflaged in and amongst the chocolate hops. Very good.

Drinkability: The dark fruits, addictive chocolate, smooth belly and attractive back end all make for a brew that disappears waaaay too quickly. Intensely flavorful, with an excellent poise from the carbonation, and a rich rewarding dark complexity in the finish - this is perfect right now, so hard to put down, yet so easy to put down. Precarious!

Overall: Just like the start of the English Premiership League, this is a very welcome August return which, with 8 bottles left, will no doubt be a Perennial favorite for some time to come I feel - I hope!! Whereas the airy-fairy fanciful unbalanced 9th bombed in my eyes and was a Bridge Too Far; I cant help but think that this (the 8th) was a **very** successful detour for Stone. The 8th works extremely well for me. This is definitely Stones best style detour in the Anniversary line-up for my money. I am digging the journey of the 8th and I am also thinking that this could get better yet. (3,362 characters)

Didnt quite know what to expect - a brown ale sitting for this long. alcohol content was high so i figured it would be fine but i didnt know if it would go anywhere positive. still not sure if it got better, but it was pretty damn good.

Super thick and creamy mouthfeel, almost like a Rochefort or something like that. Flavor is fairly subtle, nothing too special, but very likeable.

I guess that sums it up - feels great in your mouth, but isnt truly unique in any way. (477 characters)

This was a delicious beer, altho a bit tame for an anniversary edition. A very proper example of a brown ale, and kicked up a notch as only Stone can do. I definitely taste some chocolate; a very good malt base was used for this brew. There is a nice hop finish to each sip as well, which I would expect from Stone.

Overall, an enjoyable beer, and a very good strong brown ale! Was happy to find this in the cooler at Whole Foods- the only one on the shelf actually! I imagine it must have been sitting in the back for a long time... (536 characters)

Pours a dark brown hue with no head, no lacing. Smells quite alcoholic with a lot of red wine going on, and some slight coffee scents. Some fruity raisiny things come through. Tastes quite like a porter or a stout- there's so much chocolate up front, then a wave of coffee, and some bittersweet espresso. Mouthfeel is okay but a bit on the thin side for me. Overall fairly drinkable, but a bit too sweet after a while. Still, it's a tasty brew, and the alcohol is fairly well balanced. (485 characters)

This is a very good brown ale. It is superbly drinkable. It pours a orange-hinted brown with a minimal head, although the second pour provides more of a head. There is nice lacing that sticks to the glass. The taste is dominated by caramel/toffee maltiness. There is a hop bite that compliments the maltiness, but this is definitely a malt-monster, unlike other Stone beers. There is nothing harsh about this beer, and I dig the clean finish. (535 characters)

found for $4.79 a few weeks ago (2 bottles.. so what the hell..I might as well try one and see if I think the other is worth saving/savoring)

eyes...
lively! brown.. like dark caramel, 2 full fingers of head crackle and it stays amply fed with very active carbonation racing up inside the glass. damn, this is REALLY active in the glass wehn you hold it up to the light. lacing is superb and sticky like the floor of a movie theater. damn this is inviting... great looking! later on down the glass this leaves gobs of lace.. almost like tree rings.. I can tell the age of the beer or something now...

nose...
fresh chocolate malts, deep scarred and almost scalded caramel, coffee aromas as well.. the nose is deep and strong showing just a hint of the alcohol, this has that smell of when you just open a chocolate bar except with a dash of barley... nice.

taste etc...
oddly enough this tastes like a more tame (alcohol wise) version Old Stock Ale (03 vintage tasted recently).. the old stock is of course boozier and has more barley kick.. but damn this reminds me of it... realyl nice mouthfeel, it is creamy and smooth.. and yet for a brown it has a subtle hop bite before the chocolate notes round out the experience. The alcohol does make it slightly hot in the mouth but not to a detriment for me personally. the flavor is dominated by the malts, chocolate mostly, but not overly so which would generally offend my pallete (personal preference). This is nice and full in the mouth but drinks just light enough.. kudos!

verdict?
stone didn't let me down on this one.. thanks to my BA bud yelterdow for recommending that I grab this when I saw it.. especially for the price.. damn! what can I say.. if you see it, grab it.. I think I know a few stores that may have it buried on the shelves.. time for some beer hunting, this one is worth seeking. (1,868 characters)

Pours a frothy tan head over a hazy mahogany body. Head recedes with little to no lace. Rich malty sweetness dominates the aroma. More of the same in the flavor with waves of caramel and rich malt up front with light notes of chocolate. A earthy and even mildly spicy hop character joins in making this a well rounded brew, albeit on the sweet side. Medium to full body. Moderate carbonation. Smooth upfront with a very mild lingering hop spiciness contributing some dryness.

A rather robust brown ale bordering on old ale status. Excellent malt complexity and a balanced sweetness, at least in my opinion. The noticeable hop character provides nice counter notes while giving the malt center stage. A tasty malty delight, that is drinking well at almost two years old. (776 characters)

Poured from a 22 oz. bomber into a tulip. Poured the color of Hershey's Milk chocolate with nice garnet highlights. The nose was kind of subtle and vinous. Taste was big oak and vanilla and bready malts. Sweet but short of cloying. Hops are still lingering in this bad boy after 2 years...nice and complex with some good warming feeling from the alcohol. Tastes like an Imperial Brown Ale to me. Good solid offering from stone and a nice sipper but not something I could drink all night. (487 characters)

Pouring in to my trust Stone pint glass. Pours ridiculously dark. A very, very, very dark amber. . closer to mahogany. Almost no head. Hard to see through the murkiness, but there is some bubble action going on. Head is already gone.

Tastes like a black and tan made with arrogant bastard and stone smoked porter (as if you could call that a black and tan). Very roasty flavor, very noticeable coffee flavor as well. Tastes a bit flat (not bad flat, but stout flat), with a carbonation/alcohol zing at the back. Starts off pruney like the bastard, but its predominately stout flavored from there on out. Pretty damn tasty, just not eye-opening like most of Stones offerings. (1,082 characters)

Somewhat hazy ruddy brown with a few floating particulates (noticed a heck of a lot of sediment in the bottom of this 20 month old bottle) and a clingy clumpy tan foam cap. Sweet caramel and candied fruit aromas mixed with a hint of hazelnut liquer immediately make me think this is some kind of old ale. If this were intended as an old ale (I know it's not), the taste would reveal it as a mere pretender. No matter, because what is offered, even at such a late date, is wonderful: soft, smooth nutty caramel malts with a sweet cherry undercurrent. Earthy bitterness from some expertly blended hops emerges at the finish. Begins airy and fluffy but overall a satin smooth mouthfeel; medium body. I can certainly detect the "spirit" of a mild ale here, however this is most definitely more of an amped up brown. Never bothered to pick up any of Stone's Anniversary Ales before. Damn! Now I know! (895 characters)

I don't want to overanalyze this beer. A kick-ass brown ale (with all due respect to Albany Pump Station's "Kick-ass brown"), this thing just drinks like a big old brown sugar bomb. It has such great molasses notes, and a little bit of nuttiness, it reminds me a bit of a New Orleans-style praline. However, just the right amount of aggressive hoppiness balances things out, and the finish, while smooth, rich, and full-flavored, does dry out enough to invite sip after luscious sip.

Man, I love this beer. It's a good thing that my local beer store still has several of these in stock... and drinking better than ever. Get your hands on some before it's all gone. (667 characters)

After cellaring this beer for way too long, I finally found that perfect opportunity to enjoy. The first few sips led me to beleive that this is an American Strong Ale. I was surprised to find that it was intended to be a Brown Ale. If so, it's the biggest Brown Ale that I've ever had. Sure it has the chocolate, toffee, barley, toasty flavors. But it's also got a heafty helping of hops to balance, amber flavors for complexity, and loaded with brown sugar, molassas, cherries, berries, and nuts. The hops add more than just balance. A solid hop flavor adds spiciness and earthiness, while contributing to a lightly floral aroma. More amber in color than expected from a Brown. Full and rich body, yet remarkably smooth and drinkable. Finishes moderately sweet, and well balanced. I'm glad that I waited to savour this beer, but now I have a problem--finding more of them to drink! (883 characters)

I really enjoyed pouring this beer. The color of the stream of beer flowing into my glass was fantastic. Dark amber with traces of gold. Picks up a lot more red and burgundy in my tulip. The small copper bubbled head was disappointingly momentary.

Smells delightfully of heavy malts with caramel, molasses and a hint of coffee. Theres also a citrus wafting around in the background adding a lot of life to this one. Smells a lot like a barley wine.

Tastes more like a brown ale. Theres a delicate charred wood and burnt oat malt flavor here paired with a pear sweetness. Theres also a light bitter sourness that I can feel more than I can taste that sends electric tingles along the edges of my tongue. This fades into a roasted coffee that drifts up into my nose in the finish. My only concern is that a little bit of oxidized metal slips into the finish as well. Over all, there are some very busy, meandering dynamics here.

The mouth feel is light, dense and clean with a very small carbonation that adds a unique element to the feel.

I picked this bottle up yesterday (yes in 2006) at a store and couldnt believe they still had it. Anyways on to the review. It pours a very dark and murky amber color not a whole lot of head even when poured aggressively it does leave a nice lacing though. It smells of malt, figs, and a bit of fruit, overall its a very faint smell. The taste is very nice, a chocolaty malt and nut flavor with a hint of the hop flavor that Stone are known for. I like it. The feel is somewhat odd as it doesnt seem to have too much carbonation left (this could be do to being in the fridge for so long) but it is still very drinkable, a very nice treat from Stone although clearly not their best. (687 characters)

Appearance - a very dark amber pour, but when held to light becomes iced tea color. A good-sized head of a finger or more recedes forthwith, leaving bits and pieces of lace on the glass.

Aroma - an initial nose of Belgian-style sweetness. As the head falls down into the glass, aromas of cherry and chocolate emerge. A waft of booze is picked up now and then. Smells like a dessert beer. Fortunately for me, I ate *all* my supper so I am entitled... :-)

Taste - very malty...and sweet...and bitter...now *that's* a workout for the tastebuds! The sweetness is a base sugary feeling, not consistently connected to any particular food. At times it lends itself to some chocolate notes that occasionally peek through the thick veil of alcohol. For a 7.8 abv brew it comes across like a 10+. The sweet/bitter are both intense, I like the balance. The swallow brings out a full force moment of booziness and then the aftertaste hits bitter at the back of my tongue and throat. About 20 to 30 seconds after, there is a mild coffee flavor sneaking in that doesn't show up anywhere else in the flavor profile. Yummy stuff.

Mouthfeel - very average in all aspects;doesn't get in the way, just lets the flavor do its thing.

Drinkability - a most tasty bomber that I would surely have again. (1,291 characters)

Ruby-brow body with tan head. Retention is so-so, but he beer itself looks great. Rich fruity/roasty smell with a note of alcohol as it warms up. Almost a little spicey too. Nice taste, hard to distingish though. Sweet dark malts with a toffee, caramel and a slight roasted note. Not chewy and not too thin. Feels ust riht going down but 22 oz. is enough with dinner. Heck of a brown ale, give it a try. (403 characters)

Had on tap after touring Stone's new brewery in Escondido. Great tour by the way. Definitely make time for it. Nice folks, and a lot of information.

It's too bad that this was a Stone special release because I would like this all of the time. The smell was very roasty, more so than many coffee stouts. Hell more than most coffee!

The taste was complex; started out like a strong nut brown but without the nuts, if you can imagine, with more roastiness in the aftertaste. No alcohol was apparent in the flavor but at close to 8% I felt it pretty quick since I was on an empty stomach.

Excellent all around brew that I hope they will keep making. Maybe they can feature this one when they get the restaurant up and running (supposedly by June).

I would have picked up a growler, but predictably the place was hopping (pardon the pun), and the lines were long. (873 characters)

Found a bottle in late 2005 that I've been saving up... rare as hell in NJ, I had to cross the border (to NY) to buy this... thanks, Cable Beverage!

Served in an Ommegang chalice at cellar temperature.

Appearance- Pours a barleywine/old ale fiery reddish brown, with a modest inch-thick head that leaves a subtle trace. Hugely rich in color, this looks nothing like the traditional American Brown Ale I know.

Smell- You really could have (and would have) fooled me... this beer smells like some of the greatest old ales in the ol'factory brain cells. Leather, dark fruit, alcohol, old shoes, grandfather clock... damn friggin' lovely. Greg & Co. recommends you "drink now" rather than age their beers, but this baby... at 18 months... is wonderfully rewarding. Creamy, vanilla-like aromas now waft through my nose. American Brown? WTF?

Taste- All of the above, with a badass alcohol kick... 7.8% feels like 11.4%... I remember how North Coast Old Stock '03 left me at midnight sometime in the summer of last year. This smells and tastes great, there's no way you could compare this beer to other ABAs because the complexity and sheer punch will devastate. I feel like Stone is playing a cruel joke, and I am the lucky bastard. The rich, sweet, malty, dark fruit attributes combined with the elevated ABV and 85 year-old baseball glove aroma have etched a fond place in my beer tasting psyche.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability- Real nice, creamy and mild. Carbonation takes the obligatory back seat to enhancement of flavors, we wouldn't want to mess with the party going on here. I score points for this brew being WAY more than I would have imagined an American Brown Ale to be... it could be just the whole aging thing...

All in all, a fun and extremely surprising tasting. (1,786 characters)

It pours a clear chestnut amber, ruby highlights on the fringes when held up to the light. Three full fingers of creamy cafe-au-lait head that slowly erodes to a pancake of head. Descending rings of creamy lacing circle the glass marking the passing of each sip.

The aroma is caramel and toasted malt sweetness, dried fruit currants, and berries. almost port-like. Minimal vinous hops a definite smell of alcohol.

The first sip tells you this is no ordinary brown ale. Toasted caramel malt sweetness and fruity notes, along with touches of port with a definite lingering presence of alcohol. As the alcohol and sweetness wains a definite dose of hops makes a welcome appearance. The finish is longish and dry and bitter. The flavor profile matches an old ale more than a brown.

Medium bodied, it lingers on the palate.

This is a bold and drinkable beer that seems to have mellowed since the early reviews. The hops while there were well muted and in keeping with what I expect from a brown ale. The sweetness is there and dominates the bitter, but it is not cloying in the least. Glad I picked up a second bottle. I may just have to grab more. (1,160 characters)

August 2004. Tasted December 2005. I had this when it was fresher and enjoyed it very much, this sampling is after a bit of aging, but it still delicious. Pours a dark brown with some coppery tones when swirled in the light. The head is a slightly brownish off-white, which rings the glass nicely with lace. Smells sweet, rich and caramelly with a mild spiciness and a bit of alcohol. Very inviting overall in both appearance and aroma. Very smooth with a medium body. Tastes sweet with a bit of chocolate blending with the caramel found in the aroma. Some dryness in the finish with a bit of a hop bite. A very drinkable beer, which hides its alcohol quite nicely. A very different offering from Stone, which I wish was regularly available. (741 characters)